Wednesday, April 13, 2016

Judge orders 'Affluenza Teen' Ethan Couch, who killed four in drunk car crash, to stay in jail for TWO YEARS

'You're not getting out of jail today!' Judge orders to Ethan Couch

...will spend 180 days in jail for each of the 4 lives he was 'affluenzed' to take

Texas
teenager Ethan Couch, who killed four people and injured nine in a
drunk driving crash, will spend another two years in jail Couch, who turned 19 on Monday, appeared before a judge as an adult on Wednesday to hear the new details of his probation
Judge Wayne Salvant did an about-face after he told Couch he was going
to delay the decision about how long he would remain in jail The sentence was greeted with visible satisfaction from family members of Couch's victims Couch will now head straight back to the nearby Lon Evans Correctional Center - the maximum security lock-up

The
Texas teenager who killed four people and injured nine in a drunk
driving crash and then avoided jail will by running off to Mexico will
spend another two years in jail as he faced justice for the first time
as an adult.
Affluenza teen Ethan Couch, who turned 19 on Monday,
appeared in adult court on Wednesday where State District Judge Wayne
Salvant said he will review recommendations from prosecutors as well as
Couch's attorney.
'You're not getting out of jail today,' Salvant
told the bearded Couch in the courtroom. Couch wore a red prison jump
suit and had a shaggy hair cut.
Couch was sentenced to 720 days of
custody comprised of four consecutive terms of 180 days – one for each
of the four lives he horrifically snuffed out in a 2013 drunk driving
crash.
The coddled DW killer turned 19 Monday inside the maximum
security jail where he has spent the past three months languishing in
solitary confinement. The birthday meant Couch was no longer a juvenile
and faced a far harsher punishment for breaching his paroleby attending a
boozy party and fleeing to Mexico. Couch will now head straight back to
the nearby Lon Evans Correctional Center - the maximum security lock-up
Today the teen runaway got his first taste of adult justice when he was
hauled before Judge Salvant and hit with the massive extra punishment.
Judge Salvant indicated that he could review that decision at another
hearing two weeks from now when he has more information from prosecutors
and Couch's attorneys. But he warned Couch: ‘Until we make that
decision you will remain in the county jail at this time. You are not
getting out of jail.’

Lawyers spent much of the 90 minute hearing at
the Tim Curry Criminal Justice Center in downtown Fort Worth arguing
whether the judge had the power to impose such a harsh penalty.
Couch’s attorneys argued for his immediate release but Tarrant County
Prosecutor Riley Shaw said that the ‘myth’ that Couch was a juvenile
deserving of preferential treatment ended Monday.
'Nothing I do is in stone, so I might reconsider,' Judge Salvant told both parties during the sometimes-heated legal exchange.
Couch's hearing at the Tim Curry Criminal Justice Center in Fort Worth

The
sentence was greeted with visible satisfaction from family members of
Couch's victims who looked on silently inside Courtroom Two while he
learnt his fate.
They included Alex Lemus, the brother of Sergio
Molina - a one-time best friend of Couch who was left needing round the
clock care for the rest of his life following the 70mph horror smash.
To their relief, Couch will now head straight back to the nearby Lon
Evans Correctional Center - the maximum security lock-up where he has
been languishing in solitary confinement for his own safety.
The
bearded teenager had cut a drawn, anxious figure as he was led into
Courtroom Two shortly before 10am, wearing a prison-issue red jumpsuit
over a grey t-shirt.
He showed little emotion and replied ‘yes, your
honor’ after Judge Salvant asked if he understood why he was now in
adult court.
When he is eventually released, Couch's probation
restrictions will remain 'consistent' with those he faced as a juvenile,
the judge ruled.
Tragic victims Breanna Mitchell (top left), Brian
Jennings (right) Hollie Boyles (bottom left) and daughter Shelby Boyles
all died in the horrific card crash caused by Ethan Couch in 2013

Tragic victims Breanna Mitchell (top left), Brian Jennings (right)
Hollie Boyles (bottom left) and daughter Shelby Boyles all died in the
horrific card crash caused by Ethan Couch in 2013
Scene: Couch's parents, whose wealth was used as part of his affluenza
defense in the deadly crash (above), said they could not afford the
rehab and paid just $1,170 a month

They include banning him from
driving or being around alcohol, pot or other controlled substances. He
will also have to hold down a job and meet regularly with a community
supervision officer. Couch had been brought into the court complex
through an internal walkway linking it to the jail. He was led away the
same way, staring down at his feet in silence as he contemplated the
likelihood of two more years under lock and key.His father Fred, sat stony-faced throughout the proceedings and refused to talk with the media afterwards.
Couch's half-brother Steven McWilliams, 29, and his wife Misty, 29,
were also in court to support him but his mom Tonya, 48, remains on
house arrest for her part in allegedly helping him flee to Mexico.
Her son was just 16 when he got behind the wheel of his father's F-150
truck with three times the legal limit for alcohol in his blood.
He
smashed into a stationary white Mercedes SUV at 70mph, killing the
driver, Breanna Mitchell, along with mother and daughter Holly and
Shelby Boyles and pastor Brian Jennings, who were all trying to help
Mitchell get her car going.

Executive
direct of Mothers Against Drunk Driving North Texas, Jason Derscheid,
speaks with members of the media after Ethan Couch's hearing at the Tim
Curry Criminal Justice Center

Couch became notorious
when a psychologist told his trial he couldn't be held responsible for
his actions because he suffered from 'affluenza' – an affliction
supposedly born of his privileged yet dysfunctional upbringing.
He
was initially sentenced to 10 years’ probation and a year of
court-ordered rehab, which it has since been revealed to have cost
taxpayers $200,000 because his parents could not afford to pay.
Couch ran into problems, however, when a video surfaced online of him
attending a boozy beer pong party - a clear probation violation.
He fled to Mexico with his mother in November rather than face the courts.
Tonya Couch allegedly withdrew $30,000 from her bank and called
estranged husband Fred to tell him that he would never see either of
them again.
The mother and son then drove 1,200 miles to the Pacific
beach resort of Puerto Vallarta where they stayed at the glamorous Los
Tules resort.

Pricey: Ethan Couch's court-ordered rehab as part of his sentence for
killing four people in a drunk-driving cash in 2013 cost taxpayers
$200,000 (above in February) Ethan Couch
Troubled: Couch, who turned 19 on Monday, will appear before a judge as
an adult on Wednesday to hear the new details of his probation (2013
mugshot on left, 2016 mugshot on right)

While there,
Couch made repeat visits to a 'sex club' called Harem where he was
allegedly spotted snorting cocaine and guzzling Pacifico beers - running
up a $2,000 tab which he was forced to ask his mother to settle. The
two later moved to a run-down apartment four blocks from the beach but
were discovered after a signal from one of their cellphones alerted
authorities as they dialed out for Domino's pizza.
Both initially
contested their extradition from Mexico but Tonya was returned to the US
in early January with Couch following on the 28th.
Since her
return, Tonya has been held under house arrest at the Fort Worth home of
eldest son Steven McWilliams, 29. She faces being sentenced to ten
years in prison for hindering apprehension of a fugitive, with Judge
Salvant also overseeing her case.
Couch, meanwhile, was held briefly
in a juvenile facility before being transferred to the 444-bed Lon
Evans Correctional Center, where he has been housed in either a solitary
confinement or separation cell.
Authorities fear the slightly-build
prisoner - number 0879903 - is so feeble he will be unable to defend
himself if he is attacked by an inmate seeking fame or notoriety.
The jail, which opened in 2012, houses those deemed the worst of the
worst of the 3,600 people either awaiting trial in Tarrant County or
whose sentences don't warrant them being moved to a state prison.
Daily Mail Online previously revealed how Couch whiled away his hours
working out to Richard Simmons exercise tapes and was fed three basic
meals a day, slid into his cell through a 'bean chute'. His father is
also embroiled in an unrelated case after he was accused of
impersonating a police officer.
He was initially sentenced to 10
years probation and a year of court-ordered rehab, which it has now been
revealed cost taxpayers $200,000 because his parents could not afford
to pay.
Couch finished in February 2015 and went on the run just
months later in December, shortly after video emerged of him at a party
surrounded by alcohol.
He was not allowed to drink as part of his probation.
The Star-Telegram reports that Couch's stay at the North Texas State
Hospital in Vernon cost approximately $20,000 a month, and that he was
there for 10 months in 2014 from February through November. His parents
were only forced to pay $1,170 of that amount, claiming they could not
afford the cost.
He then received treatment at The Next Step Program
in Amarillo which cost a total of $11,000, which the court ordered his
parents to pay.
Since her return from Mexico with her son, Tonya Couch has been held
under house arrest at the Fort Worth home of eldest son Steven McWilli
He
was released from that program in February 2015, and on December 2
video emerged of him at a beer pong table. Couch was reported missing
just days later when he missed a probation hearing. He was captured with
his mother on December 28 in Puerto Vallarta. Tonya did not attempt to
fight deportation and within days was back in Texas where she posted
bail of $75,000 and is now awaiting trial for hindering the apprehension
of a felon. Meanwhile, Couch launched an appeal against deportation and
stayed in Mexico for over a month after being captured in December.
He eventually dropped and his attorney, Scott Brown, hinted that Couch
could have been taken to Mexico against his will. Couch did not appear
to be being held unlawfully when he was captured and was caught after
using a credit card to order pizza. It later emerged that he had been to
a strip club while he was on the run with his mother and spent $2,000
on a single night.
Tonya Couch faces up to 10 years in prison for helping her son flee to Mexico.
Couch was 16 and had a blood-alcohol level three times the legal limit
for adult drivers when he swerved off a road near Fort Worth and hit a
disabled car, killing its driver and three people helping her. Several
other people were injured.
Breanna Mitchell, 18, had broken down at
the side of a highway in Texas and was trying to fix her vehicle
alongside Hollie Boyles and her daughter Shelby, who lived nearby, and
youth minister Brian Jennings, who had also stopped to help.
Couch
left the road while traveling at 70mph and hit the group, killing all of
them, and paralyzing friend Sergio Molina from the neck down after he
was thrown clear of the truck.
Couch was sentenced only to probation
for the accident in juvenile court. During the sentencing phase in the
trial, a defense expert invoked the term 'affluenza' when arguing that
Couch's parents had coddled him into a sense of irresponsibility

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